How to Quickly Update Your Apps with the Copy Table Feature

As an app builder, do you ever find yourself wanting to use the same table again and again, either within the same application or in other applications? With our September 2017 Product Release, we’ve enabled you to turn this idea into a reality. You can now build tables and maintain your apps faster with the ability to easily copy tables within your app, or from one app into other apps that you manage. You can also register for the webinar to learn more about this feature!

Why Copy Tables in Quick Base?

Our builders have presented us with many different scenarios where they could benefit from copying a table. These range from simply having multiple tables with the same form layout to adding the same new table across a number of existing apps, or even creating a secondary table for archiving records.

Previously, the most common work-around builders used was to 1) copy an app, 2) move the table that needed to be copied into the original app, and 3) delete the copied app that was created just for the purpose of creating a table copy. With the new feature, they can directly copy a table and choose to copy its data as well. Here are a few examples of how the new Copy Table feature may be used.

Example 1 – Tables with Associated Sub-tables

Often times builders design apps where a table may have a related sub-table with a different name or purpose, but both will have essentially the same fields and similar form structure. A great example of this is a Tasks table that has an associated sub-table. Now with the Copy Table feature, instead of recreating the Tasks table from scratch, a builder can copy the task table and rename it to Sub-Task, saving time and making sure both tables look and feel the same.

Example 2 – Centralizing Data

In another scenario, let’s say you have concerns about centralizing your data in one app that all departments would access, and instead wish to create a copy of this app for each department. For example, instead of one project management app for the entire company, a builder might make one project management app, and then copy it for each department. In order to easily create a new table for each of these apps, a builder now only has to create the table once in a single app, and then copy it into the other apps.

Example 3 – Cleaning and Organizing Data

Perhaps you find your table size becoming large, or cluttered from records that aren’t necessary to have continually surface. However, you still need a record of the details in these tables for historical tracking purposes. Using the new Copy Table feature, you can quickly create a copy of the table with all of the data in it, and then delete the old data from the original table. We will dive deeper into this example next.

Copying Tables to Create an Archive of Old Data

In this scenario, imagine that you are the app builder for the ‘Complete Project Manager”’ app (available on the Quick Base Exchange) and want to archive time cards from before 2017. Your goal is to store these records in your app, but still reduce the table size of the Time Cards table and make it easier to find more recent time card entries.

Application Relationship Diagram

To familiarize yourself with how this app is designed, check out the app Relationship Diagram. On the application home page, click Settings > App Management > Show Relationship Diagram.

For our example, we will be focusing primarily on the information in the Time Cards table. Often, user tracking tables such as Tasks, Leads, Activities, or Projects can quickly fill up with old data that is not actively being used, but still needs to be tracked for record keeping purposes. Using the Copy Table function will allow you to archive these tables quickly and easily, and help declutter the source table.

How to Copy a Table

Watch the video demo:

Step 1. In the Complete Project Manager app, select the Time Cards table. On the right side of the screen, select the More button, then select the Copy Table option.

Step 2. In the window that opens, choose a new name and description for the table, as well as the individual records, similar to creating a new table.

Note: All Quick Base Actions, webhooks, roles, and forms from the original tables will be copied, but deactivated. Sync connections, relationships, and associated reference fields (fields from other tables) will not copy.

Step 3. There are 3 options from the previous step we can use to save time, depending on what your users need.

Copy Table to

This option allows you to copy the table to a different app other than the one we are in. You must be the app manager for both apps in order to copy the table to a destination outside of the current app. This is a great option in the scenario for which you would like to archive a number of tables to a specific archive app for auditing purposes.

Keep Data

This option allows you to copy all of the data from the original table to the new one. For example, if you knew all of the data in the original table needed to be archived, you can select this radio button to fill the newly copied table with the current data in the original table. This option does not allow for filtering, and will copy over all records.

Permissions

This option allows you to toggle between View and No Access permissions for all roles associated with the original table. The default is No Access. In this example, if you wanted Users who can see the Time Cards table to also see their archived Time Cards, you can set the permission to View to allow them to view the. These settings can be updated anytime in the Roles settings of the app.

Step 4. Click Copy once you are happy with the name, description, and settings.

There you have it! Within a few minutes, you can copy a table within an app, or from one app into another. Once the above steps are complete, you’ll notice your copied table appear in the table bar of either the current app or the app to which you elected to have your copied table reside.

To learn more about how to copy tables from Quick Base Customer Success, I recommend that you attend our webinar in the coming weeks. You can also reference our Quick Base Help Guide to learn more about this feature!